Is rapeseed oil free from trans fat?

There is sometimes misperception that refined rapeseed oil contains trans fat. Refined rapeseed oil is extracted from seeds under high temperatures, before being cleaned to create a flavourless oil (making it a great carrier for flavours) with a high smoke point. It has not been through hydrogenation so its chemical structure therefore largely remains the same.

Artificial trans fats are typically formed when an oil goes through a chemical process known as hydrogenation, which makes the oil more solid (known as hardening) at room-temperature. Trans fat can raise cholesterol levels in the blood, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

For this reason, it’s recommended that adults should eat no more than about 5g of trans fat a day, however, on average, we eat about half the recommended maximum. This is largely because most food manufacturers and supermarkets in the UK have removed hydrogenated vegetable fat from all their products.

Trans fats can be found naturally in some foods, such as those from animals, including meat and dairy products, but these are present at low levels and in the quantities consumed are not considered to have an adverse health effect.